Outbreak Series: The Epidemic
"I'm sorry, Glimmer. The bite infected you." "You have 2 months left to live." In Outbreak, a deadly war between the Icewing Kingdom and the Skywing Kingdom sends Pyrrhia into a full-scale bio-war as a virus originally planned to wipe out the Icewings spreads to the Sandwing Kingdom. This tale follows two dragons, Marabou and Tinder, as they try and escape what seems to be an invisible, ever-hungry monster. Along the way, they meet up with other dragons and seek to find a cure. However, as the war progresses, things get worse and worse, and none of the tribes are willing to send in more troops to die in the diseased slums that have become of the cities. Glimmer and Alpine, two Icewings who have been sent from the Icewing Kingdom now join the sisters. Together, they have found the center for the cure, in the Rainwing kingdom. However, as Glimmer's disease progresses faster and faster, he must come to terms with his mortality. Profiles Our Group: Marabou Tribe: Sandwing Gender: Female Other: Sister to Tinder. A field researcher. Status: Healthy Tinder Tribe: Skywing-Rainwing Gender: Female Other: Adopted sister of Marabou. Molts constantly. *red marker with very bad handwriting: '''but can chaenge tongue colour, that's coool, righet?* Status: Lost her tail, otherwise healthy. '''Alpine Tribe: Icewing Gender: Male Other: Very fast Status: Healthy Glimmer Tribe: Icewing Gender: Male Other: Possibly a traitor, but only source of Icewing intel we have Status: Infected, disease progressing fast. Hind legs, tail and abdomen fully infected. Patient has been reporting an intense fever. '' '''S4M and E1K' Tribe: Robots? Gender: ?!? Other: Part of the cure effort team. Each holds two frozen dragon eggs inside them as a backup plan if dragonkind dies. S4M also watches the freezing clutches. E1K is designed to keep the infected safe, but away from the scientists and workers. Status: E1K needs a few repairs, but both are in good shape. Disease Count By: Marabou Disease count: 3 Red dot: Point of major concern Yellow dot: Point of concern Green dot: Not a point of concern As a proud scrollalist and a researcher, it is my duty to find out what makes these diseases tick and figure out ways to reverse these plagues the tribes have brought down on each other. I shall make it my duty to fix these, but first I must understand them. The only one I have researched thoroughly so far appears to be: Fireneck, the first illness that appeared recently. It is a disease of clearly Skywing lab origins. It's symptoms include a swelled, bloody and slime-drenched mouth, a major decrease in memory and brain function and having trouble flying. The victims of this disease spread it by sharing bodily fluid, be it through a blood oath or a bite. The slime also appears to be infectious. At first, this disease may appear to be like the fever, with high body tempature and dizziness. After a few more days, however, it dramatically changes. The brain loses it's higher functions slowly and memories are destroyed. Slime will begin to pour out of their mouths. At this stage, you can still talk to them, but don't expect them to take it nicely. The victims will become aggressive, selfish and immature as they lose the functions of thinking, leaving only instinct and needs. In a while, about 2 months after first contact, the victim will become fully infected, and lose most ability to fly beyond a simple glide and become dangerously aggressive, biting and thrashing at the simplest provocation. It is advised to kill them now in this state, a simple spear through the brain should do the trick. This disease, while originating from a Skywing lab, is appeared to be derived form an eagle sharing similar conditions and made into tiny cans of disease. If you see an unlabeled can on the ground, don't open it. Please.... Something happened when somebody did it before and, I can't say what happened next. Just, don't open it. The next, Neck Bubbles, is so similar to Fireneck, I'm not going to talk about it much. It's basically Fireneck, but a bit more rapid-acting and comes with an unpleasant to say least side effect of red, sore splotches all over a dragon's body. It appears to only effect dragonets, so it might actually be the same disease as Fireneck. *a few crossed out words* I have confirmed that this is indeed the same disease as Fireneck. Ahem... moving on. The next are very unknown to me, so excuse me if I make a mistake, Tinder. Rotwing is a disease that rots away at the membrane of a dragon's wing, rendering them unable to fly. It first appeared in the Icewing Kingdom, so I'm assuming it's another friendly gift from the Skywing Kingdom. It, unlike the other diseases, leaves the brain very intact until the dying breath. The infected dragon usually grows green fungus all over their body, and suffers for them, the fungus drawing blood from the dragon. A dragon infected with this disease is very pale and discolored. When they die (usually at the hands of the Firenecks) the fungus burst out of their corpse and spreads it's diseased tendrils. The only way to contact this disease is breathing in the fungal spores, and that's why I always keep a gas mask on talon. The last one I know of, Boulderhide, first appeared within the Skywing population and the Icewing one at the same time, and is quite rare at the moment. I have only seen 2 victims of it so far, both Icewings. It causes the scales and bones to become thick and heavy, making flight a challenge but still quite fast. It also causes multiple rows of teeth to appear and creates rather fast growth. But that's where the postives stop. It almost seemed to be created as a aid for the soldiers or something gone wrong. Victims have the same brain damage as Fireneck victims and suffer extreme pain as they grow. They also have trouble breathing as their bones expand, pushing organs around. Around 50% of victims never make it, counting for the transformations I've seen around town. If I'm correct (which I think I am) the only way to contact it is through bites and salvia. (Sad news for shippers. No kisses in town now.) That concludes my report. Chapter 1: One Infected Tinder glanced at the large circular building that was surrounded by a thick electrified gate. " Is this the new Rainwing military center?" Asked Marabou, almost holding an invisible pen with her tail. " Well, military might be overestimating a little. These are Rainwings you are talking about, we don't have the old fashioned guns yet, but at least the Nightwings are already putting their fancy lasers and robots in our building." Said the Rainwing, tapping a code into the front of the building. The building was made of pure concrete, inside and out, except for a stone courtyard out front. An Icewing was standing in the gate. Her mouth was filled with multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth, and she appeared to be dying, her breath but a wheeze. " Pain... Don't let it happen. Don't.. bit.. cans... toxin.." She said. Tinder gave a worried look and hastened her pace until they arrived at a gate in front of the building. A dragon-like robot awaited them. " I'm afraid that you will have to go through the screening process. The Nightwings built some fancy quarantine machines to keep the infected away from our research scientists." Said the old Rainwing. A ripple of sickly green worry flashed through his scales. A strange machine, bits and pieces of old and new technology walked up, the dragon robot. It's eyes were a piercing blue, a radiant glow coming from them. The robot's belly was a hollow shell with two black egg-shapes in it. It couldn't open it's maw, for it had none, and instead of wings, two old-fashioned guns attached by cables and wires to it's middle. Several more modern lasers had been attached to the muzzle of the guns and it had a tiny light coming out of it's right talon. The light glowed over the group, moving quickly through each member. That was, until it scanned Glimmer's leg. " Virus detected." Hummed a mechanical voice, scratchy and half-broken. Glimmer frowned. He was feeling like bat guano, almost his entire kingdom infected, and basically a prisoner even with his friend. Maybe it was forceful karma, what he got for poisoning the supply. Or maybe it was just bad luck and poor vision in the forest which led to his attack and infection. But either way, it was either a death or something far, far worse. He knew it in his heart, from the moment the Rainwing-creature bit into his heel. He was going to become one of them. The infected, the insane, the dead inside. Having this freaky metallic creature staring at him like he was the plague itself wasn't helping much either. Glimmer felt like he could throw something, felt he could scream. So he did. " NO, IT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" Glimmer cried out in a disbelieving rage. " OH MY GODS... TELL ME IT'S NOT! I DON'T WANT TO DIE!" The Rainwing with them knocked Glimmer down to his knees. " Get a hold of yourself, sonny! You're not going to die! E1K, get Dr. Lifekeeper!" The Rainwing roared. Glimmer squirmed beneath the Rainwing's talons. " Listen to me. I, Akee, will tell you that you will be perfectly ok! The virus can't have gotten much farther than your leg, right?" Dr. Lifekeeper grumbled as he stormed down from above. Another infected, another to go in the stone courts. The dusky blue Nightwing muzzled Glimmer, and injected him out with some drugs. Glimmer growled as his vision went blurry. Spots appearing before his eyes. Alpine came up next to him, grabbing the stumbling Icewing. " What did you give him!?" Said the icy-blue dragon, as he struggled to keep Glimmer from dropping on the floor. " None of your business." Said Dr. Lifekeeper, wiping the needles down, making sure not to not touch any slime or blood that may have been on the Icewing. " None of my business?! You just injected my friend with a bunch of needles without his consent." Said Alpine, trying to stand up tall while holding Glimmer. Glimmer slipped out of his talons, and onto a net Dr. Lifekeeper had quickly set onto the ground. Alpine glanced up at Lifekeeper, who whistled, calling over two Nightwings to take the fainted dragon inside. Tinder looked away, and quickly darted away, clearly not wanting to see the stress and tension between the dragons, which was thick enough that she could cut her talon through it. Alpine's face was a beet red, a contrast to his cool scales. Lifekeeper frowned a bit, before turning away, walking back into the building. The Nightwing turned around for a split second, and whispered something to Alpine: " I'm sure you have noticed this, but some patients don't know what's for their own good." Chapter 2: Blazing Heat When Glimmer woke up, the room felt like a thousand degrees. His head pounded with pain and confusion as he stumbled around a stone-wall room. " Where am I? Show yourself you coward, and fight me like a dragon!" He said. His talon pounded against one of the walls. A blue Nightwing walked down a flight of stairs, and opened a door in Glimmer's holding cell. Dr.Lifekeeper frowned sadly as he put down his clipboard, stared at Glimmer in the eye, and said: "I'm sorry, Glimmer. The bite infected you." "You have 2 months left to live." The bite? Glimmer looked down to his heel. " Can't you do anything about it? Those... other dragons cut the tiny Skywing's tail off." "Aah, yes, yes. They told me all about it. They even said they were bringing you here to have justice for your poisoning. Mustn't have figured that those diseased lunatics would do it for them. Anyways, it wasn't just your leg. The virus is in your bloodstream, it's too dangerous to try and remove it. " Said Dr.Lifekeeper, sticking a thermometer in Glimmer's maw. The silver dragon snorted a frosty breath, before looking slightly confused. "How long was I asleep?" He said, looking around the stony room. "Hmm... About 2 or 3 days. Nothing much." The doctor said, taking it out. " You have a very high temperature. First symptom, jotting it down here. You'll probably have around 50 more days. Just try not to get bitten again, that could speed things up." The Nightwing's posture almost seemed to imply he didn't care. His tail dragged along the floor like a dead body and his eyes were dull. He has probably seen hundreds of patients die in just these first months of spreading. Not that it made his seeming disinterest any more comforting. " 3 days? NOTHING?!" Said Glimmer, his tail thrashing. " I'm done with you and this dumb center. Ugh, just let me outside, I'm harmless. Let me see my friend for a second." "I suppose a brief walk would be acceptable, but as long as you carry the virus, you must wear a muzzle." Said Dr. Lifekeeper. A muzzle was fit onto Glimmer's maw, and although it was uncomfortable, he didn't really care about that with the storm that was pulsing in his head. The light burned, his eyes having grown accustomed to the dark, but Glimmer was merely happy to be out of that dreary hole and away from that obnoxious Nightwing. Alpine was standing with the tiny Skywing-creature. And Glimmer felt his heart shiver. Just three days in this clean center and all the dust had been wiped from the dragonet's body, revealing her dust-grey molt to be various shades of green and blue. Yet he couldn't help but hate the other side that became more pronounced once the dust was wiped off. A Skywing side. Such memories triggered a violent vigor in his mind, yet he resisted it in favor of the warmer, teen lover-boy side. It was the dumb side, but it was a smart move to stick with if he didn't want to get killed by the hundreds of other dragons wandering around. "Hello." Said Glimmer, his voice muffled by his muzzle. Alpine's wings seemed to droop a bit. " I'm sorry they can't save you.. I-I really don't want.. Let's just get out of here, everything about this place makes me depressed." Said Alpine, walking out the door and landing on a tree by the gate. Glimmer followed, but his muscles seemed a little out of shape from his long sleep. Tinder followed. "How have things been?" Said Glimmer. He wanted to spend his last days with his buddy Alpine. And maybe that cute hybrid. Tinder? That was probably her name. Alpine didn't want to respond. It seemed almost as he couldn't. "Tinder." "It's been fine, really. I just wish everything never happened though. But wishes don't get things done, that's what Lifekeeper and the Head Scientist always say." Said Tinder. "Hey, where's your big.. traitor.. sister?" Glimmer said to Tinder. He really tried hard to conceal all his emotions. He was very angry that Marabou planned to turn him over, especially when, or at least in his mind, they would have never survived without him. "She's preparing to go to the Skywing Kingdom, and I'm coming with her." Whispered Tinder, almost happy if not for the fact that she was heading directly into the most dangerous part of Pyrrhia. Chapter 3: How to Die "Good Bye." Said Glimmer, his voice a mixture of apathy and sadness. Marabou's scales ruffled as he caught a glint in his eye. The one she had seen in his assassin side, the one that poisoned her entire village. " Don't get any "smart" ideas." Said Marabou, her tail flicking around it's poisonous tip. Tinder flew up next to Marabou, wedging herself under Marabou's wing. Glimmer felt insulted. No wonder these victims go crazy, everybody treats them like they are already. With a flap of the Sandwings wings, she took off into the sky. Tinder followed, giving one finally glance back before she almost stumbled into the air. Marabou looked ahead, into the clouds. The swirling storms brushed her along, giving her an effortless glide. Unfortunately, it gave the most desperate of the infected, the ones who had gorged themselves on their allies and now starve alone. Their wings twitch as jerk like broken machines, yet this wind gives them that tiny lift they need. Their torn membranes whistle in the winds, their foul red slime dripping onto the poor fleeing citizens below. A town is under attack by these rabid monsters. "We have to go and help them!" Screeched Tinder, looking at all of the Firenecks gathering around the town below. They pounded into the sandstone buildings with little direction, and anyone who dared to look out was devoured by the flying ones. Marabou tugged Tinder's shoulder. " We have to get away from here. We can't help them. We are only two dragonets." Said Marabou, flying back onto course. Just then, a flying Fireneck, probably a Sandwing although his scales had been tinted red, heard the ruckus and dived down. Tinder shot out a burst of smoke, confusing the angry dragon. He let out a screeching howl, attracting several dozens of Firenecks. "Fly up, as far as you can!" Said Marabou, already beginning to do it herself. "Why?" "They are gliding, Firenecks can barely fly! They won't be able to follow us!" Said Marabou, watching as Tinder fled into the clouds with her. The firenecks stopped howling, but instead cast a frustrated scowl as they went down. A final scream echoed from the town as Tinder left, guilt firmly in her heart. ---- Glimmer gnashed his fangs as he was thrown into a stone courtyard, thick stone walls with barbed wire ceilings atop. There were other rooms in the courtyard, each separted by thick rocky walls. They were clearly outside, but the security was serious. " Where am I?" He said, the last thing he remembered was saying bye, and then Alpine giving him a drink... Wait. Three other dragons stood in the stone courtyard with him. A cracked sign on the enterance to this part of the courtyard said "Icewings 1". An Icewing, her maw filled with two rows of bony teeth, gave a crooked smile. Her back was filled with protruding bones, her face a deformed mess. A vague hint of pretty silver may have stood out once, but it covered by horrid cancerous bone. "Welcome to the meat grinder kid. I'm your death, proud to see you." Chapter 4: How to Live " The meat grinder? And why is everybody welcoming me to stuff I know I won't like?" Said Glimmer, his spines perking up as he saw the blood coating one of the walls. The hygiene clearly wasn't something these dragons were concerned about. The Icewing smiled again, but in a more friendly than crooked way. " Heh, the scientists think everything is something welcoming. I've been here the longest, so they think they should be like.. blah, blah welcome to the infected courtyard blah, blah, legal stuff... whatever. This is just where they keep the infected, nothing special." Said the Icewing, making her way up to Glimmer, who seemed tiny relative to the giant hulking mass of bones in front of him. " My name is Shining. I didn't choose that name, it totally doesn't suit me. Anyways, I'm about 10 and a Boulderhide... yeah.. People are afraid of me." 10? Thought Glimmer. She was barely an adult dragon, but she was already infected and much bigger than anybody else in the cell. A small Icewing poked his head up next to Shining and nibbled on her talons, red goop pouring from his maw. Shining recoiled in disgust, almost stepping on him as she stepped backwards. " This is my brother, um... I forgot. But that's kinda what happens when you have a virus up in here." Said Shining. Forget her own brother? Glimmer scowled. But it got him thinking, how much had he forgot? He ran over what he knew once more. He was an Icewing, age 24, his friend was Alpine, he poisoned a Sandwing Village, he probably deserves this, his parents died when he was young, in the Sandwing War, his brother was a lumberjack, and his favourite food was... ... He couldn't remember many small details. What his home looked like seemed clouded in a fog, his favourite food a mystery. Glimmer panicked a little bit. " UGH, WHY CAN'T I REMEBER MY FAVOURITE FOOD, THIS SHOULD BE SO EASY!!!" He said, slapping his talon against his forehead. Shining came up to him. " Don't worry, at least you can remember your family. Keep that close to your heart and don't let go. I might have..." Said Shining. ---- Tinder landed in the Skywing Kingdom, Marabou hiding in the morning clouds. A guard looked at her with a confused glance. " So your name is Tinder?" He said. " I've never seen you around here." The guard pointed his spear at Tinder. Tinder couldn't help but sweat a little bit. " I-I didn't grow up in the Skywing Kingdom. My parents were lost near the Sandwing Kingdom. The guard looked at her again, her dried scales and beady eyes. He seemed to believe her. It wasn't like that was a lie either though. Her mother died and gave her egg to a family of Sandwings. The guard slowly lifted his spear back up, pointing away from Tinder again. He inspected her for bites and let her through. The Skywing Kingdom seemed oddly empty. Dead bodies, impaled on spears, red goop draining out of them, lined the walls. A few starved and beaten Skywings walked slowly through the empty markets, stopping to admire Tinder's well-fed body and colorful highlights. It wasn't the type of attention Tinder was used to. They looked at her with hunger, almost as if she were some exotic delicacy, decorated and presented. They looked away and moved on, nipping tiny crumbs off the streets and scratching open any cart left out. Some of the Skywings were lined up in rows. Was it the army? Then Tinder looked at them and saw their bites. They were being led to the arena. Marabou would have wanted her to go straight to Queen Ruby, but Tinder couldn't resist. She followed the group to the arena and paid the entrance fee. She could barely watch the first ten minutes. They struggled like rabid dogs, and a single healthy Icewing was placed in the middle of the arena. He was stripped to the bones in under a minutes, his roars of agony dying out in seconds by the devouring Skywings. Then they turned on each other, each screaming at the others. Tinder tried to look away, to look for Ruby. But she wasn't out today. Only a few Mudwings and a couple of Skywings watched, weak cheering drowned out by cries of disgust. Tinder flew up to the palace nearby. And she entered, to see were Ruby was. Chapter 5: The Giant Ruby sat in her throne-room, her body almost dead across the golden throne. But Tinder couldn't see that. All she could see was a giant mass of mushrooms and spores, all clumped onto a tiny red speck. Ruby was barely recognizable as a dragoness. Her talons twitched with the slightest bit of movement as a servant entered the room. Ruby's wings were draped over the sides of the throne, yet they had no membrane, bare bones and all. "Queen Ruby, Glacier has called for a stalemate. There is no troops on either side to fight anymore, their all sick or are in the palace." Said a tiny golden Skywing, his wings pushed tightly against his shivering body. Green fungus dotted his body as well, but he looked at least mobile, unlike the mass of fungus on the other side of the throne-room. Ruby let out a weak snicker. "If they are going to stay in their pretty little palace, let's blow them up in their pretty little palace. I want a win, not a petty stalemate. They hand over their kingdom or there will be no Icewing Kingdom. Send them a two weeks notice, I want the kingdom, or they are getting hit by The Giant." Said Ruby, using her weakened talons to prop herself up. Disease has come full-circle, and now even the ones who released the virus were getting infected by it. Tinder backed away. She didn't want to know what The Giant was, she just wanted to be home. With Marabou's Father and Mothe- It's best not to think about these things. Tinder could feel tears well up at the very thought of their Mother and Father. Tinder darted out, running away from this bloodshed, when she felt Marabou brush by her side. " Tinder, we have to go find out what The Giant is!" Said Marabou, turning around. Tinder contuined to fly away until she was cowering in one of the mountains, away from the Skywing Palace. There they spent the night, and not a word was spoken... ---- Glimmer hadn't been looking so good ever since the disease hit him. Just a few hours ago, some sort of bloody substance began to drain from his maw, the blood-red substance coating his underbelly when he slept. It was confusing. Why was this happening? Why did his head hurt? Why was everybody talking about infection and bio-weapons? Everything was a blurry mess. Another dragon entered the cell last night, a bedraggled Icewing with a limp. "Hello..?" The Icewing said, his black eyes gazing worried around the cell, picking out Glimmer as the safest of the bunch. Glimmer remembered almost involuntarily snapping at him: " GO AWAY YOU RUNT, YOU DIE LIKE THE REST OF US!" He almost felt guilty. Almost. Glimmer got to his talons, his eyes opening to the stone grey cell, the new Icewing far, far away from him. Shining's brother was gone, gone from the cell. All that was left was a slime trail to who-knows-where. Where? Glimmer could barely guess, he could barely even think straight anymore. His red-tinged scales let out a scratching hiss as they grinded against Shining's bones, the huge dragon not even bothered by the fact she was living tumor of bones. But when she saw her brother was gone, something snapped. Her first instinct was to grab the dragon right next to her and bite. That happened to be Glimmer. The pain was like nails in his flesh, digging deeper and deeper as she then used her maw to shake him around like a ragdoll. Her talons pounded to stone cell's walls, and the new Icewing went running for the door. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!" He screeched. Glimmer's eyes pinpointed on Shining, and he took a bite. There were no memories, no friendships. There was only now and Shining was as good as dead in his infected eyes. Glimmer's talons ripped a gushing wound across Shining's snout, causing her to let him go. Vile red liquids seeped from Glimmer's maw, blood leaking from his nose and a gash across his upper back, made by Shining's nail-teeth. E1K burst in, alerted by the Icewing's screams, and his gun shot at Shining. A bullet passed through Shimmer's bones, the splintered formations falling into her skin. Red liquid burst from every pore in her body as it swelled with rage, her muscles turning a bright red as it coated her skin. Glimmer finally came to his senses as he laid defeated on the ground, only a make-shift robot protecting him. He glanced at the open door E1K was shooting through. An escape. Freedom. Chapter 6: Countdown A gurgling hiss started in Glimmer's throat as a cherry-red ooze pushed it's way out of his neck and into his mouth. His jaw snapped out, as he launched himself forward at the door. His muscles were tense, and his jaw chittered softly. "LET ME OUT!" He hissed, his tail waving back and forth. His tail smacked E1K, sending the robot hurtling toward the ground. Shimmer let out a demented screech, her head stabbing into a wall as she pushed her way through the narrow passage. She kicked aside the robot like a tin can, and pursued more fleshy prey, Glimmer. Her eyes were black pinpricks, the seams almost running with the red ooze, and her maw seemed contorted in an unnatural position. "Where is...every?" Gurgled Glimmer. He was finding it harder to speak, such a thick ooze coating his maw and such a fog around his mind. Something primal urged him to fight Shimmer, but he contuined running. Shimmer gave chase, her large talons raking and tearing the floor as if it were a thick cut of gooey yak-fat. All of sudden, the floor shook, and the giant dragon, as well as Glimmer, fell through the floor. His wings couldn't hold him, jerking in random motions, flailing about. An alarm chimed. Breach in Sector 4 It said, in the digitalized voice of a female Nightwing. Alpine gazed over at one of the security cameras. He had been assigned to a guard at the lab. Instantly, his ears perked up when he saw what had happened. His friend, being attacked by this giant monster of a dragon and then.. He heard the building straining, a fissure breaking open under the pressure of this giant bony dragon. His friend was in danger! ---- Marabou hissed. They weren't getting anywhere with this. They had been sitting in on the Queen's conversations for the last day, watching her health slowly decline literally before their eyes. Pyrrhia wasn't going out with a bang thus far, only a faint whimper on a tyrant's breath. But, after a while, something peaked Marabou's interest. "Queen, um.. The Giant isn't terribly stable. Our scientists think we are going too far. This "nuclear bomb" idea is deadly. We found out that it's destructive force also unleashes radiation in massive doses, which could poison all of Pyrrhia. It could be worse than the plague!" Said the tiny golden one, reading a letter. "I need it... in two weeks. Then we can *cough* settle this disease thing. It's.. their own.. fault if they refuse. Besides.. No Icewings means more *cough* effort to repair.. In fact, let's make it ONE WEEKS... time.." Said Ruby, rubbing her eyes wearily. The Queen could surely not be sane anymore! The Giant was a destructive force, called a "Nuclear bomb". If that were anything like fire bombs, she had to tell the cure center right away. The fires from a mass bombing could spread to the rainforest, if the Skywings were especially careless, or if some infected got a hold of one. And poison? Marabou didn't like the sound of that. One week, that was the countdown to destruction. Jotting that down, she closed her journal and went up Tinder. The dragonet had her wings curled over her head. "Tinder, is everything alright?" Said Marabou, walking over to the young dragonet. "No." She said, looking down at the ridges of the Skywing Kingdom. "Why are we even doing this? Everybody we know is dead, and almost everybody else alive is infected. We can't do anything." "But maybe we can try? Hey, why don't you take a nap, we can fly when you're ready?" Said Marabou. She didn't like seeing her sister sad. She's probably sad over mother and father. And honestly, Marabou was too. But she didn't like wasting time, and with the countdown to destruction being only 1 week, it was important to not waste anymore time. Category:Fanfictions Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon) Category:Content (RimeTheIcewing)